Sunday, September 23, 2007

Honeybee Stole ...I started my Honeybee Stole which I hope to have completed in time to wear for Thanksgiving. The pattern is from the ever amazing Anne and yarn is of course my favorite Habu Tsumugi Silk in the Curry color. How perfect is this for a fall stole?

I found the best way to work with the small cones of silk is to use a bread basket with loop type handles and place a bamboo dowel through the cone and handles. This allows the cone to spin freely while you're working.

Here's a closeup of the behive section.

and the obligatory backside. This shows the closeup of the provisional caston. I did a crochet caston directly on the needle (US 4) with plain cotton crochet thread as waste yarn.

At The Knitting Hutch I've created a fun make your own sock kit perfect for those socks we love to wear in the Fall and Winter. I call it Socktacular Sock Kits. There is a selection of 8 sock patterns by Anne and Miriam combined with a selection of 3 sock yarns. Classic Solids by jojoland, Vareigated by jojoland and Hand Painted by Claudia. You select your pattern and then your yarn and color and there you have a build your own sock kit.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

This turned out to be really large after blocking. I used US 8's to get a loose stitch and open eylets which made it larger than expected. But, the good thing is that this is exactly what my mom wanted. It will be perfect to wrap around herself while in the chemo recliner. Now if I did need to take this in a bit I would felt it slightly by washing in the washer with a large towel on warm water then not block agresively but just gently pull into shape.I will be making more of these but will go down to US 6 or 7's.

New project OTN - Hemlock Ring Blanket. I shared a picture of this in the last blog and I'm zooming along on this project. This is a wonderful pattern and I'm looking forward to using this on the cold autumn and winter nights. As of this moment I'm already on round 76 of 121 ... but don't worry this is slowing down as the rounds increase. I'm guessing I should complete this by the end of next weekend and have it blocked by the end of the month. But, don't worry as I mentioned I have another project in the wings.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

I am soooo pleased!!! I finished my Mom's chemo Shawl the Stora Dimun shawl from Folk Shawls this morning ... right on schedule. It's blocking right now and I tried it on before blocking and the fit and drape are just amazing. I will do a photo shoot this week before sending it to her later in the week so it will arrive for the first day of Autumn. I will definately be making more of this one it is perfect and much better than any sweater.

Just some details....

Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca in Sport weight in color #402 which is a lovely, dusty sage green. I used all 10 balls (50 gram) with just half of the last one left.

Needles: US 8 Denise Interchangeables with a 52" cable. These allowed me to really stretch it out as I went along.

Stitch Markers: 4 very cute kitty stitch markers for the borders and gusset. I don't usually use markers but they did come in handy on this project.

The crochet cast on created a very nice edging that makes most of the perimeter of the shawl and would do it on future Dimun shawls.

Ok, so now what's next you ask.... Jarred's Hemlock Ring Blanket. Isn't it stunning? I saw his on his blog and knew even before the wildly popular KAL that I would be making one of these for the back of my sofa. I'm using, like Jarred, the Cascade Eco Wool. I ordered 3 very large skeins just in case. The colorway is Antique (8019) and I love it. This is starting as a very quick knit with a magic cast on for a tight center belly button. I'm again using my Denise Interchangeables (US 10) with 2 sets (one for each half). Blue cable is the first half and the pink cable is the second half. I am already finished with the first 47 rounds and getting ready for the fan and feather repeats which means I'm moving right along. I hope to have this one done in a week or two.

More 'deadline' projects. After the Hemlock Ring Blanket I will be starting my Honeybee Stole by Anne in Tsumugi silk (curry colorway). This will be my Thanksgiving stole and will be perfect with the dress I picked up at Nepenthe/Phoenix in Big Sur on Labor Day. Then I will get back on the MS3 (Swan Lake) stole which I plan on wearing for Christmas. There will also be a couple Christmas gift projects in there as well.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

You know when you are monogomas to a project it is thrilling what you can accomplish.

I've been faithful to my mom's Stora Dimun Shawl and only working on it and I'm currently well over half way through the number of rows. Since the rows get increasingly shorter I estimate that I'm about 2/3rds there. These are pictures from last Sunday and currently I'm already on row 95 of 176.

Interesting construction. Working your way in from the outer border and up the center back panel. The Denise Interchangeable Needles make it really easy to stretch this one out to get a sense of size.

Very long rows with the lace border.

Lace detail in garter stitch

I'm using my set of 4 kitty stitch markers for the borders and center panel. This little one reminds me that I'm starting a right side (decrease) row.

Well I'm off to Sacramento for another weekend of clearing out my grandmother's house.

See ya Sunday. Oh, and there will be new yarn, needles, patterns and kits coming Sunday night or Monday.